The accident
by Zsylynn Quinn 1358
Summary: A back story to the accident that left Jo's leg injured and left her wearing a knee brace.


Joanne West was never one to pass up an opportunity to run and play with friends in the park of chase her sister around the house with a fake cockroach. She was a joker, a prankster and, at times, a bit of a pain in the butt, but that was all part of her West charm. Even at fourteen years of age, Jo's inner child shined through like a beacon in the night, guiding lost ships to shores. While most ninth graders were buying make-up and talking about boys, Jo was throwing water balloons and playing video games. Many thought Jo was odd; fourteen and no boyfriend, no crush? How could that be? Hell, there were those who thought the girl insane…loony, off her rocker and some other fourth thing. Of course, to her friends, Jo was the ultimate weapon. She could spy on the girls and not get in trouble. Finally! Boys had an upper hand! To her twin sister Jess, Jo was…interesting, entertaining. I mean, if there was nothing to TV, Jo was the next best thing. Tori also appreciated Jo's refreshing personality. And being that Jo and Jess were practically carbon copies of Jade didn't hurt either; it was like watching a young Jade do all the crazy fun things that the _real_ Jade had deemed lame or stupid.

Although, it was hard to determine what Jo was thinking, or if she was thinking at all when she pulled some of her prank-glue on Jess's bedroom doorknob, switching out Jade's sunscreen with mayonnaise, locking Tori in the closet and "losing" the key. Naturally, the other occupants of the Vega-West household were anything but pleased; in fact you could say they were downright pissed. Jess beat Jo with a shoe…as soon as the Jade managed to pry the girl's hand from the doorknob. But…Jo was beloved in the house; the prankster, joker, fun loving goofball. There was never a time when one of Jo's pranks led to an injury…to anyone other than herself. I mean, let's not get started on the countless bloody noses and trips down the stairs Jo had suffered while trying to A) get away from her enraged victim or B) trying to escape the consequences of a backfired prank that had come back to bite her. There was a time that Jo gave herself a cold trying to dump cold water on Jess.

Everyone was still trying to work out how _that_ happened.

"Jo West! What…Is…THIS?!" Jade shrieked, hands clutched around an EMPTY coffee mug. Empty…devoid of contents, THERE WAS NOTHING IN THERE! Something must have gone wrong with the world, ice caps melting, nuclear warming…Sikowitz with a full head of hair! Seriously! There was no feasible reason, no logical explanation as to why her coffee mug was EMPTY! Jade thrust the mug into Jo's face, forcing the girl to peer over the rim. It was no secret that Jo had inherited Jade's love of coffee and would still a drink of her elder sister's drink whenever possible. As such, Jade resorted to putting laxatives in her coffee to teach Jo a lesson. How Jade had fallen for her own trap still amazed Tori to this day. Coffee man, it does things to people...seriously.

"Oh…Ummm…I drank it…sorry." Jo was insane.

"YOU DID WHAT?!"

"I drank it…I mean, it was sitting on the counter, lonely and alluring. It was calling me! It was all, 'come get me Jo, you know you want me. Drink me, drink me. Give in to my caffeine delight.' How did you expect me to say no?"

"Joanne April West!"

"Did you just full name me…?"

"You drank my coffee…" Jade said, her lips curling into her infamous West pout.

Jo reached under her seat and pulled out a fresh, steaming mug of coffee, eerily similar to the empty cup clutched in Jade's hands. Once again, Jo had pulled a fast one. Jade, however, was not amused. Jo knew that look-she was going to die if she didn't get to the door in three…two...one…she sprang from her seat with a speed that made Jade do a double take. Jo ram to the door, nearly tripping twice as she skipped down the front porch. Jo ran in a zigzag line with Jade following not too far behind. Mmmm…twenty-six and keeping up with a teenager…way to go Jade. However, Jade hit a snag when she tripped over her own feet and went tumbling to the ground; clumsy I know, but she's Jade, so what are you going to do? Her knee took the brunt of the fall, leaving her with red, swollen sores that were already starting to bleed. Oh, Jo was going to love those. Jade could tell.

Jo smiled. Freedom…sweet freedom! Hey…Jade didn't catch her…no Jadey…co catchy…no Jadey…no catchy…no Jadey…noooholy shit! The impact was hard enough to knock Jo completely off her feet. She must have blacked out because the next thing she knew Jade was crouched beside her, pleading with her to stay awake. "_Jo…are you awake? Can you hear me? Answer me!"_she barely managed to pull herself toward the other end of the ruined car. What she saw nearly stopped her heart; Joanne, her sister on the street bloodied and unresponsive to the world around her. There was a puddle of blood surrounding the girl and a thin sheet of glass sticking out of her skin; it was a true life horror scene._ "__JOJO!"_

"_J-J-Jade…?"_

"_Yes…yes, it's me, JoJo. Are you okay?"_ Jade clung to Jo's hand as if letting go meant certain death. _"I'm sorry…"_

"_Isn't …your fault…I…sorry…about coffee…"_

"…_JoJo…just- -just wait, okay. I'm calling the ambulance now. They'll be here soon." _As Jade tried to explain what'd happened, she'd felt the warm trickle of blood leaking onto her shirt and in a moment her brain completely shut down. Giving their location was the hardest thing she'd ever done.

"_Ms. West, I'm afraid you can't be with her now; she's in critical condition, you'll just be in the way."_

_When did the paramedics get there…? What was going on again? God…Jade couldn't think!_ _"Jade…Jay, what happened?! What's going on?!" Tori's voice broke through her panic induced daze. Jess was staring at the ambulance, Tori was ushering Jade into the car, fully prepared to follow the ambulance to the hospital. Jade seemed to be on autopilot-being ushered around and lead around as if she had no free will. It wasn't until she actually saw Jo on the stretcher, bloody and unconscious that Jade realized the full extent of what the car had done to her baby sister. Her leg was…mangled, torn up and __hanging __there like a limp noodle. The doctors were buzzing around them, speaking…but Jade heard nothing…she felt nothing. Numbness…horror…pain…anger. _She screamed. Over and over again until her voice was hoarse and her body struggled to stay upright; she cried. The world was closing in on her like a collapsing tent; she couldn't breathe, she felt the world go dark. It was all so wrong, yet she couldn't escape the truth. She did it. It was all her fault that they were no more.

_"__Whoa! Whoa! Jade! Jade, calm down, Jade!" _

Warmth…

Sweet warmth…

_"__I got you, Jay. I got you. It's okay."_

_"__T-Tori?"_

_"__Yes, it's me, Jay, are you okay?"_

_Worry…_

_Fear…_

"Jade…what happened to Jo?" Jess's voice cut through the fog of Jade's mind. It was as if the memory from her parent's demise were resurfacing, boiling under the surface and emerging as a horrible burn across the body, spreading rapidly…leaving nothing untouched. The pain was etched into her brain until there was little untainted flesh left. She said nothing as one by one, every color in her mind blended together into a demented rainbow of black and gray. She stood by as the demons ransacked her mind, claiming it as their territory, their home; she was the outsider, the unwanted intruder.

"_You miserable freak! This is all your fault; the LEAST you could do is cry for the people you murdered!"_

"_Do you even care?"_

"_What is the matter with you?"_

"_You're Jade West, right, the girl that killed her Mom and Dad?"_

"_You killed them, didn't you? How'd you manage that?"_

_"__Jade…?"_

"All this…for a damn mug of coffee…" Jade cursed. This was NOT how it was supposed to be! Jo was fourteen; she just started high school the month before. It was fair. God…that coffee…that stupid coffee! She called Cat that afternoon, babbling about how she never going to drink coffee again and how she wanted to strangle the person behind the wheel of the car that'd so nearly killed Jo. Cat arrived in the hospital ten minutes later with Robbie, both clad in their pajamas. Was it really nighttime…? Had that much time passed? Calling Beck had been more difficult than anything; for years he'd been 'Uncle Beck', he loved the girls like they were family-this would kill him.

"_Hello?"_

"_Beck…Ummm…-I"_

"_Jade…is something wrong? Are you crying?"_

"_Hospital…Jo's hurt…please just…get down here!"_

Beck was walking into the waiting room five minutes later with André trailing behind him.

"What happened?"

"Car…" Jade's eyes were unfocused, glazed.

"Wha…?"

"It came from nowhere…the car…hit Jo, she went flying…there was blood…so much blood."

"You…mean…?"

"The bastard was drunk! God…why can't people drive sober? Why does this keep happening to me? Huh? Why Jo? Why…?"

It wasn't until _six hours_ later that the doctor came out to speak with them.

"Is she okay?"

"Ms. West…I have good news and bad news…" his name was Dr. Payne (not exactly a good name to have while working in the ICU) and he and Jade were very well acquainted. It was dr. Payne who'd broke the news of Jillian and Keith's death to Jade…and it was dr. Payne who'd extracted the scissors from Jade's chest after her failed suicide attempt. And now it appeared that he'd have to deliver MORE bad news to her; Jade was not prepared for any more heartbreak. Please…please... please let Jo be alive! Let her have survived.

"She's alive…and stable."

Thank you, God…

"But…"

There's always a but…

"Well…that car pretty much…mangled her leg…it's well not looking good."

"What…what do you mean not looking good? Because if it's just a few scars I can handle-"

"We may have to amputate the limb from the knee down."

Jade was not prepared for that…at all

"Jade…?"

"A-amputate…" the word left Jade's lips with a struggle, as if speaking it caused Jade physical pain. Jo was alive! But…her leg…she may…lose…no. No. No. NO! It wasn't fair! This wasn't supposed to happen! Jo was supposed to be at home, staying up past her bedtime and begging to sleep in Jade and Tori's bed, 'because of the creepy looking tree outside the window that looks like George Jefferson'. Not hold up in the hospital while a team of specialists debate on whether or not her leg could be salvaged. God…why Jo? Why not her? Why did God seem to target the people Jade loved the most? _If you hate me so much, why not just kill me? Huh? Just end it…_

"Save it…"

"Tori…"

"Save it, Dr. Payne." Tori's voice was firm yet pleading. "I don't care if you have to do a leg _transplant_, make sure Jo leaves here with both legs."

"Well…I'll see what I can do?"

It'd taken _ten_ hours after that encounter for Dr. Payne to announce the surgery to save Jo's leg a success…Jo was going to be fine…perfectly fine! YAY! Though, there would be…limitations set by the shear damage done by the car. Jo would need to return to the hospital for additional surgery to repair the damage done to her limbs, an appointment had been made for her to see a physical therapist as well as an orthopedic specialist to mold a night brace for the girl _after_ the cast was removed in ten weeks. Running was out of the question for the time being. Jumping water balloon fights…school. It'd all have to wait.

"She's not failing this year, Jade. I don't care if I have to become a teacher and force feed her the lessons through a straw! She's passing with me…" Jess said.

"How?"

"We share most of our classes; I'll take extra notes and bring home her work and take it back to school!" Jess said. "She. Will. Pass!"

The group was allowed into Jo's room later that day.

"JoJo…oh, God I didn't think it'd be this bad." Cat sat at the foot of the bed, her fingers gently tracing over the leg left unharmed by the accident. "Jadey is really worried about you…and sad that you're hurt…get better for her, okay?"

"You heard the lady, Jo…besides, we need someone to replace Jess's shampoo with whipped cream." Robbie said.

"That was you!?" Jess shrieked. "Jo, get better so I can yell at you!"

"Easy…easy…trust me, I know better than to yell at Jo West." André said. The memory of what Jo had done to Jade the last time the elder West had gone on an anger spree was still fresh in his mind. Jade minus coffee equaled nothing good. Jade had gone from mean girl to Cat 2.0 within a day….And Jade West acting like Cat…creepy, weird…just plain wrong.

"Yeah…I think I like you better mean."

"Shut it, Shapiro."

"That's what I mean." Robbie took a seat beside Cat.

"I don't know…happy Jade was kind of awesome…"

"Jo, shush…it was weird and crazy an—JO!" Jade's voice must have risen four octaves once she saw Jo's bright storm cloud eyes open and look around the room. Jo was okay…she was okay and awake and God today was a good day!

"Wow…Jade giving hugs…"

"Shut up…you scared me, Jo. I thought you were...I'm just so happy you're okay."

Jo groaned but didn't release her grip on Jade. "Of course I'm okay…I'm me."

"Smart ass."

"Love you too." Jo said.


End file.
